The present invention relates to a method and system for expelling test sample-volumes from luggage articles and/or packages to test for the presence of explosives and/or biohazardous materials within each luggage article or package, and, more particularly, to a method and system for expelling or expressing a portion of the interior air volume of luggage articles or packages in a moving stream of such luggage articles or packages in the context, for example, of luggage conveyor/handling systems typically used at airports and other transportation hubs to test for explosives and/or biohazardous materials, particulates, and vapors.
The airport, rail, bus, and package handling transport systems typically handle large volumes of luggage and/or packages as part of their operations. For example, the airline system subjects xe2x80x98carry-onxe2x80x99 luggage, bags, packages, and the like to an X-ray inspection and, on occasion, to a hand search. Luggage, bags, packages, and the like that are xe2x80x98checkedxe2x80x99 are identified with a particular ticketed passenger and then moved through a luggage routing system in which the individual luggage articles are directed to a particular aircraft for loading.
In general, it is considered beneficial to inspect each luggage article and/or package for dangerous or otherwise proscribed materials prior to being loaded into the luggage compartment of the aircraft. In practice, however, it is difficult to inspect each article of luggage or package, particularly those packages that may contain biohazards that are not directly visible to the eye.
Various types of sensors have been developed to sense the presence of explosives and/or biohazardous material particles or vapors suspended or entrained in air. While these types of sensors are effective for their intended design purpose, they are of limited value in detecting the presence of a hazardous in the interior volume of closed luggage articles and other packages.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention, among others, to provide a method and system for expelling test sample-volumes from luggage articles or packages for the detection of hazardous materials within the luggage articles or packages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for expelling test sample-volumes from luggage articles or packages for the detection of hazardous materials within the luggage/packages that can effectively test a continuously moving stream or flow of moving luggage articles or packages.
In view of these objects, and others, the present invention provides a method and system for expelling test sample-volumes from luggage articles and packages in a moving stream of such articles and packages. In accordance with the present method, one or more luggage articles or packages in a stream of such articles or packages is subjected to one or more momentary compressions to reduce the interior air volume of the article or package to express or expel a portion of the interior air volume from the luggage article or package. A sensor system located in the vicinity of momentarily compressed article or package when it is subjected to its compressive force senses for the presence undesired materials, particularly biohazard materials.
In one general form of the invention, moving belt conveyors are arranged to resiliently press against each luggage article or package moved along a conveyor system to effect the desired momentary compression. In another general form of the invention, a pressing surface is momentarily advanced into engagement with the luggage article or package to effect the desired momentary compression. The pressing surface can be a mechanically driven xe2x80x98presserxe2x80x99 plate or, for example, a surface portion of a pneumatically actuated bellows. In other forms of the invention, the luggage article is subject to successive compression between moving belts or by the use of inflatable bladders that surround and forcibly engage various surfaces of the luggage article or package.
The sensor system can take the form, for example, of one or more sensors designed to detect one or more of a plurality of dangerous or proscribed materials, including explosives, explosives-related compounds, oxidizers, chemical warfare agents, illicit drugs, hazardous industrial chemicals, radioactive particles, and the like. Additionally, the sensor system can be equipped to detect biological pathogens or other undesired or prohibited materials, including but not limited to air-entrainable particles, including bacteria, bacterial spores, viruses, rickettsia, and toxins.
An air handling system can be co-located in the general vicinity of the system that effects the momentary compression of each luggage article or package to drawn in each test-volume sample expressed from the articles or packages for processing by the sensor system.
The present invention is best suited for use with luggage articles that are constructed from yieldable resilient materials including soft-sided luggage and fabric bags or carriers.
The present invention advantageously provides a method and system for expelling test sample-volumes from luggage article or packages in those contexts, such as an airline terminal, where a large number of articles in moving streams must be inspected on a continuous or near continuous basis.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference characters.